Doorcheck for vending machines



Feb. 28, 1933. F, EARLY 1,899,024

DOORCHECK FOR VENDING MJ-xCI'IINES Filed Jan. 9, 1951 INVEA/TOR Thumas? Early 67 H15 :4TTORNEY PatenteclFeb. 28, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THOMAS E. EARLY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO HORN 86 HARDART BAKING 00., OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY DOOBOI-IEOK FOR VENDING MACHINES Application filed January 9, 1931.

This'invention relates to a door check, or door holding mechanism, and is particularly adapted for holding the door of a vending machine open after the same has been unlocked and lifted, in order that the vendee may withdraw the article purchased Without the necessity of holding the door in raised posit-ion.

The subject matter of this invention is particularly adapted to coin controlled vending machines of the type shown in the patent to John Fritsche, No. 1,039,508, patented September 24, 1912, and the patent to Albert M. Cramer, No. 1,7 58,652, granted May '13, 1930, and for a complete and thorough understanding, these patents shouldbe referred to.

Machines of the type described in the above patents, areparticularly adapted to the vending of fairly large articles, and will be found in many restaurants and automats where food is served automatically.

In the particular type of vending machine shown in the above patents, after the vendee has deposited the required coins, and unlatched the door leading to the compartment wherein resides the article desired, it is necessary to manually 1 raise the door and hold the same in raised position while the article is withdrawn from the compartment.

This requires the use of bothhands, and if the vendee should, for instance, have a cup of coffee in one hand, or some other article, as for instance, an umbrella, it would be necessary to deposit the article in order that both hands would be available, one, for holding the door in raised position, and the other for extracting the edible from the compartment.

The object of the present invention is to provide mechanism, which when the door has been raised, will hold the same in raised position so that the same hand may be used for extracting the edible from the vending machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide means which will automatically drop the door from raised position. A

Still another object is to so incorporate said automatic dropping means in the vending machine so that the same operates when Serial No. 507,579.

the compartment, from which the edible has been extracted, is brought into position'for replenishing the same.

According to the invention, a right angular link is pivo-tally connected to the door, and

end of said link, and means associated with the vending machine for pressing said key plate against said link so as to disengage the recess and pin and permit the weight of the door to return the, link to its initial position. The drawing illustrates an embodiment of the invention, and the views therein are as follows: i v I Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken through one of the doors of the.

vending machine, and showing a portion of the edible container upon which the automatic operating means is mounted, and

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1, and look ing in the direction of the arrows.

As illustrated in the drawing, the machine has a door casing 6, which is box-like in construction, with the floor 7, which, as illustrated, is arced as at 8, on a radius concentric with a cylinder 9 which has floors 11, upon which the articles to be vended are placed.

The door casing is provided at the front thereof, with a door frame 12, adapted to hold a sheet of glass 13, which permits a prospective customer to view the article to be vended as it rests upon the shelf or floor 11 in the machine. This door is provided at its upper end with a hinge 14:, and at its inner end with a knob 16 for raising the same into the position shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1.

The cylinder 9 is revolvable so that the compartments 17, into which the article is to be vended is placed, may be thrown around to the rear of the machine to be replenished when nry.

The mechanism, so far described, is all described and illustrated in Patents No.

5 1,039,508 and No. 1,758,652, heretofore referred to.

The door 12 is, of course, normally locked in the position shown in Figure 1, and is only released when the required coins have been dropped into a suitable slot, provided for the same and certain mechanism operated for unbolting the same.

That part of the apparatus, however, forms no part of the present invention except that 15 when the door has been thus unbolted, the vendee gr s the knob 16 and raises the door to the position shown in dotted lines so as to withdraw the article from the compartment 17. I

l It will be readily seen that one hand will be required for retaining the door 12 in raised 'tion, while the other hand is used for withd r awing the desired article.

In order that this 0 eration may be conveniently accomplished, the use of one hand, anism is provide for retaining the door in raised position when the same has been manually elevated. A link 18 has its one end pivotally connected to the door frame by the a pin or screw 19. This link is substantially right angular and when the door is in closed position, its long inner leg will be substantially vertical] dis osed. A pin or screw 21 is fastened to t 1e si e wall 22 of the door cas- 2 ing, and this pin asses through a right angulat slot 23 in the link 18, while the inner end of the slot 23 terminates in an oflset recess 24.

A ke plate 26 is pivotally mounted by a screw beneath the link 18, and its movement is by the slot 28 through which passes a pin or screw 29, which is fastened in the side wall 22 of the casing. The casing is recessed at 31 to admit'a flange 32 on the side of the a kefiplate 26.

orizontally alined with the flange 32 of the key' plate 26, is a stud or pin 33, mounted on the cylinder 9 of the machine. This stud extends out from the outside of the cylinder a suflicient distance to engage the flange 32 on the key plate 26, and move the upper end of the same forward on its pivotal pin 2'7.

As the door 12 is raised, the link 18 will be drawn outward into the position shown by the dot and dash lines in Figure 1, and

as the door is raised to its full height, the inner end of the link will drop so that the pin or screw 21 will rest within the offset recess 24 and thus prevent the door from falling. This is, of course, accomplished by reason of the wei ht of the link 18 which entirely overhangs om its pivotal connection with the screw 19.

The door will thus be held in raised position so as to permit the vendee to extract l the article from the compartment 17.

In the commercial use of these machines, it is customary for the attendant to immediately refill the compartment from which the article has been withdrawn and in the machine shown in the patents heretofore cited, the cylinder 9 is 0 rated in the direction of the arrow A, in igure 2, whereupon, the stud 33 will strike against the flange 32, on the key plate 26, pushing the said plate in the direction of the arrow B in Fi re 1, so that the inner end of the link 18 will be elevated and the pin or screw 21 disengaged from the offset recess 24 and into the position shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1.

The Weight of the door 12 will, thereupon, cause the door to fall into closed sition, where it is lockedin accordance wit the description in the patents cited, and the links 18 and key plate 26 will be returned to their normal position as shown in Figure 1.

While the invention has been described in connection with the particular type of vending machine shown in the patents referredto, it is, of course, obvious that the same may be incorporated into other t pes of machines, so that the door check illustrated may be modified in various ways without departing from the invention herein set forth and hereinafter claimed.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. In combination with a vending machine having a movable compartment member and a closure therefor, of a latch adapted to maintain the closure in open position, a ivoted.

key-plate for engaging the latch, an means carried by the movable member for pressing the key-plate against the latch to release the closure. a

2. In a vending machine, a combination including a casing having an opening, a

member having a. com artment for articles to be vended movable ind said opening, a door pivoted at its upper edge to the casing and normally closi said opening, a door check having means or holdingthe door in raised position to give access to the articles in said compartment, means for releasin said door check to allow the door to close, and means on said movable member to actuate said releasing means when'said member is moved to replenish the compartment.

,In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

THOMAS F. EARLY. 

